


Even Heroes

by BotchedExperiment



Series: LazyTown more like Hurt/Comfort Town [2]
Category: LazyTown
Genre: But here it is, Caretaking, Fever, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Sickfic, Vomiting, i didn't think there'd be a second chapter, reluctant caretaker robbie, sick robbie, sick sportacus
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-18
Updated: 2017-01-23
Packaged: 2018-09-18 09:59:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,736
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9379490
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BotchedExperiment/pseuds/BotchedExperiment
Summary: Something goes wrong when Robbie tries to capture Sportacus, and he learns that he is not as bad of a guy as he would like to be.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I have no excuse for this one.
> 
> Please enjoy!

Robbie Rotten wouldn't be in this mess if he had just paid attention.

He should have seen the signs beforehand. He's never been able to capture Sportacus before, so Robbie shouldn't have been so quick to accept when things went smoothly for once.

Sportacus barely did a thing when Robbie snatched him. He didn’t even need to eat the sugar apple Robbie was about to give him! He was asleep by the time Robbie got him to his lair, and he was awfully hard to wake when Robbie was ready to send him out of town.

He couldn't bring himself to shoot an unconscious man out of a cannon.

Now he has a sick superhero in his bed and no idea what to do.

A tuft of curly blond hair peeks over the covers, the hero's hat fallen off a while ago. Sportacus' body is far too warm. His face flushed with fever and skin shining with a light layer of sweat despite the hero shivering in his sleep.

Robbie stood there wringing his hands, unsure of how he can . . . fix this. And damn if he doesn't feel a little guilty about grabbing the guy who was already in poor health. But! But no one ever thinks of Sportacus being in any condition other than the best. How was Robbie supposed to know that today would be a bad day for kidnapping?

This isn't the first time Robbie has chickened out of finished one of his schemes, either. There was the time he read Pinky's diary, for instance. He'll never be as bad as he wants to be.

He's startled by a noise from the bed. The lump shifts under the blankets until a disoriented Sportacus pops up.

"Where am I?" He mumbles, raising a hand to his head and rubbing at his temple. Finally, Sportacus sees Robbie standing in front of him. His mouth opens as if he's going to say something but the hero must be at a loss for words.

Robbie doesn’t have much more to say than Sportacus does.

"You're . . . here."

"And that would be . . . ?" He takes a look around, noticing the purples and oranges surrounding him, as well as the familiar blankets that he seems to be wrapped in. "I see."

"You know, it's really, very rude to pass out on people when they're trying to abduct you. At least give a warning next time. Good _grief_."

Sportacus' eyes crinkle as he smiles. Robbie doesn’t like that look, not at all. It's the face that Sportacus gives the kids when he's proud of them. It's disgusting. He frowns at the man in his bed.

"If you had _half of a mind,_ " He growls. "You wouldn't _be_ out running around when you- when you're- would you stop looking at me like that?!"

"You were worried about me? Robbie, that's-"

"No, stop. Stop it now. Do not continue."

Sportacus smiles even wider. Even when he looks like he could pass out again at any minute, his smile can still light up a room.

". . . That's really nice of you." Before Robbie can insist that he is _not nice, no sir,_ Sportacus continues. "I thought I just needed some exercise. I didn’t realize that I was getting sick." he seems to be talking mostly to himself.

"It's amazing that you even let this happen, Sportaflop."

"Everyone gets sick sometimes, Robbie," He says, although obviously still accepting it himself.

Robbie snorts. He's ready to say something snarky when he notices the hero pulling the blankets up to his chin. He's suddenly shivering even more than when he was asleep. The wave of chills doesn’t look like it's going away anytime soon.

"I'll get another blanket," Robbie says hastily, anxious to do something besides watch his enemy suffer. Wow, he _really_ isn't as bad as he wants to be.

Sportacus shakes his head. "I don’t want to overheat. An extra blanket might be a bad idea," he says through chattering teeth.

Robbie is at a complete loss of what to do. It's not like he spends a lot of time taking care of people. Heck, he can't even take care of himself, how can he take care of the guy who lives for keeping his body in perfect condition?

Robbie goes back to fidgeting with his hands, suddenly feeling very awkward. Sportacus just burrows back into the bed, letting out a shuddery breath. His eyes are closed as if he's trying to focus on not freezing. Robbie's never seen him like this before. The hero, for once, is _miserable._ He should be enjoying this, but instead, Robbie just wants to do anything he can to help.

Robbie manages to get out of his own head long enough to notice that the man in his bed is asleep. Not soundly so, but asleep.

Whew.

He fills a glass of water for the first time in God knows how long and leaves it beside the bed. The dumb blue elf is definitely going to want some water when he wakes up.

Robbie's unsure of what to do now. Usually he spends his time trying to stop Sportacus from playing sports but now there's nothing for him to do. Robbie tip-toes to the chair in the corner of the room and seats himself in it. It's not as comfortable as his fuzzy orange chair, but it'll have to do if he wants to keep an eye on Sportanerd.

\-----

Robbie doesn’t realize he's fallen asleep until he wakes up. He's accustomed to uncomfortable sleeping positions and decides that he has no room to complain about what the chair has done to his back. He yawns and sits up, finally finding what has woken him in the first place.

Sportacus is making odd noises. Odd, whiny, whimper-y noises. Robbie's definitely never heard this from the hero. He stands up and slowly approaches the man sleeping restlessly. He sits on the edge of the bed, and, without thinking, Robbie presses the back of his hand against Sportacus' neck. He's far hotter than he was when Robbie dragged him into bed.

Robbie shakes his head in disapproval. Sportakook just can’t do anything halfway, can he?

Sportacus furrows his brow and reaches up to smack the cold hand away. His eyes are still closed and Robbie assumes he's not _entirely_ awake.

"Would you relax, Sportafloop? I'm trying to help you."

Sportacus makes a whimpering sound and curls in on himself. He wraps his arms around his middle, turns his face into the pillow and quiets down for a bit.

This is . . . this is weird. This is weird and Robbie doesn’t like this one bit. The hero isn't supposed to be the one miserable and feverish. This isn't Sportacus. This isn’t what a hero does. Robbie can understand it being him, he is the villain after all and if he has learned anything, it's that the villain always loses. That decided, Robbie is determined to make sure that the guy he just kidnapped is going to be okay.

"I guess I have to bring your fever down," He mutters. He doubts Sportacus knows what he's saying. He also doubts his ability to nurse someone back to health. Oh well.

He's quick to grab a cloth, dampening it with cool water and bringing it back to the bedroom. Sportacus is tossing and turning like it's his job and merely draping the cloth over his forehead won't do much good if it doesn’t _stay there_. With a sigh, Robbie dabs the hero's damp forehead, brushing his curls away in the process. Sportacus jumps at the coolness and about gives Robbie a heart attack.

"No," Jesus, was that what his voice sounded like? When did the blue guy get a chance to gargle nails? "Stop. Robbie, stop, please."

The desperation in his voice tugs at Robbie's heartstrings. He softly apologizes and less-than-softly tells Sportacus that his brain is going to _fry i_ f he doesn’t do _something_.

Sportacus shuts up.

He runs the cloth along Sportacus' neck and face and then lay it across his forehead.

"Keep that there, okay?"

A small noise of confirmation bubbles up from Sportacus' throat.

It's a long night, to put it plainly. Robbie makes sure that the cloth stays where it's supposed to, and that it stays cool. Sportacus is sweating more and more and jeez, Robbie's going to have to change his sheets when this is all over.

Robbie seats himself on the edge of the bed. He sighs and buries his head in his hands. He's tired. Granted, he's always tired. He takes a moment to collect himself before he hears-

"R'bie?"

"What is it, Sportaloon?" Robbie asks wearily, not bothering to lift his head.

"I need- I think that I-"

Finally, he raises his head and turns to the sick man. He has no idea what Sportacus is trying to say. Not until he sees the look on his face, that is. The last thing Robbie Rotten needs is for a blue elf to puke allover his perfectly nice bed.

"Uh oh."

Robbie snatches a small waste bin from the other side of the room and hastily places it on the bed next to Sportacus. The hero barely manages to sit up before he's heaving into the bin.

Robbie winces. Not much seems to come up, though, and he wonders how much Sportacus has eaten in the past day. Food. Robbie will keep that in mind for later. He'll have to see if he has anything that's not loaded with sugar.

Sportacus holds onto the bin like his life depends on it. All he's left to do is heave, stomach tightening with each retch. He doesn’t look comfortable letting the bin go as Robbie tries to take it, but the villain knows that nothing else is coming out of that stomach anytime soon.

Robbie can cross 'cleaning out someone else's puke' right off of his bucket list.

Sportacus owes him one. Actually, Sportacus owes him far more than _one_.

When he returns to the bedroom, the hero is curled up shivering. Robbie frowns when he sees that his eyes are wide open and awake. He wishes Sportacus could just go back to sleeping off this illness. He tells him that, too.

"It's cold in here."

"Well, yes it is." Underground lair. Not a great place to harbor a sick person. "But not as cold as you think it is."

 Sportacus nods. "I'm so sorry about this," He tells Robbie with a shuddery breath. "I'll make it up to you."

Robbie snorts. "Be careful what you say to the town villain."

He smiles, and Robbie can't help but smile back. They're both more than exhausted, but something has seemed to change in their relationship. Robbie is used to despising this man. Something has . . . clicked into place as if they were _meant_ to get along.

Robbie yawns and stretches his arms. "You need to sleep. So do I," He says. He's tempted to head to his comfortable orange chair, but he knows that he should be around in case Sportacus needs him. Instead, he heads for the chair in the bedroom, which has since been moved to sit a couple of feet from the bed.

Sportacus grabs his wrist before he can go sit down.

Robbie turns to him with irritation apparent on his face. "What is it now?"

"Would you mind . . ." Sportacus doesn’t finish his sentence, instead nodding toward the spot next to him.

He can't be serious. "I'll laugh at that later when I'm not about to collapse."

"Please," Sportacus stops him again before he can sit down in the admittedly uninviting chair. "It's cold."

Robbie considers it.

"I've slept alone my entire life."

Well, if that isn't a guilt trip, he doesn’t know what is.

It works.

Robbie finds himself removing his shoes and slipping into the bed next to Sportacus, who immediately clings to his body heat. He can't remember the last time he slept in this bed. Or with someone else.

It's not long before they're both asleep.

\-----

Fortunately, Sportacus becomes more coherent as it gets later into the night. Unfortunately, he doesn’t look much better. Or sound it.

He's curled on his side coughing up a lung and Robbie urges him to drink some water (this is the only time he'll ever tell someone to drink water, he swears), pressing it to Sportacus' lips until the hero takes it himself and gulps it down.

"Thank you," he says to Robbie as he hands the glass back. It's the most together thing Robbie has heard him say in a while and he has to stop himself from letting out a sigh of pure relief. "I'm being honest. Thank you for this."

"Yuck. Don't get all mushy on me, Sportaflip."

Sportacus smiles, and doesn’t obey Robbie as he takes the other man's hand. "You know, Robbie, if it weren't for you taking care of me, I don’t know what I would have done."

Robbie grumbles.

"Even if kidnapping me was a little rude of you."

Robbie can feel a blush start to creep its way on his cheeks. It's been a while since someone has thanked him.

"Ah! I almost forgot." He zooms out of the room, leaving a confused Sportacus in his wake. Robbie returns with a steaming bowl of soup and feels rather proud of himself.

"What's this?" Sportacus says with a chuckle as he takes the warm bowl into his hands.

"Soup."

He stirs the spoon around in the liquid, and smiles. "Robbie," Sportacus can barely contain his obnoxious happiness. "Are these _vegetables?_ "

"Maybe. Just eat it."

Sportacus has never looked prouder.


	2. Even Villains

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> He can't help but roll his eyes when a certain blue elf shows up. Good. It's all his fault anyway. Well, it's mostly his fault.   
> . . . Kind of.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I honestly didn't decide to write a second chapter until today, okay? I hope this is okay. Because obviously this fandom needed even /more/ sportarobbie fluff.

Robbie Rotten currently feels very sorry for himself.

He hasn’t had a chance to sleep yet, not that he'd be able to anyway.

He's grumpy. He's wiped out from coughing most of the evening and it's been way too long since he last had delicious cake because his stomach refuses to give him an appetite. He's tired and so, so thankful that no loud noises from the surface have disturbed him as of yet. Then again, it was the middle of the night.

It's cold in his lair and Robbie really wishes he had some kind of heating system down here. He shivers under his own thin, orange blanket and accepts that he could be feverish.

He can't help but roll his eyes when a certain blue elf shows up. Good. It's all his fault anyway. Well, it's mostly his fault.

. . . Kind of.

"Robbie, are you okay?"

Robbie sighs. He must be the picture of misery right now.

"Define okay."

Sportacus frowns at him and rushes over to where Robbie is seated in his chair.

"You're sick!"

Robbie coughs and growls. "What gave it away? What are you doing here, anyway? Isn't it past your bedtime?"

"Sometimes my crystal wakes me up when one of the children are very sick. I suppose you're no different."

Robbie isn't sure how to feel. Their . . . friendship (if you could call it that) is relatively new and he's still getting used to the whole thing. He definitely didn’t expect Sportacus to show up. He has other things on his mind, though, like his aching stomach. And aching head. Aching lungs. Heck, who is he kidding? His entire body is in pain. Robbie groans and curls in on himself, making himself even smaller in the big chair.

He tries to ignore Sportacus standing there and scrutinizing him. His headache intensifies and he squeezes his eyes shut, breathing heavily through his nose until the pain passes. Robbie opens his eyes again and wipes away the tears that had built up during the fit of pain.

Sportacus' expression is that of gross sympathy that makes Robbie look away.

Sportacus sighs softly. "Why didn’t you tell me?"

'Why' indeed. Robbie is asking himself that question at this very moment. Why didn’t he want Sportacus showing up while he was a total disgusting mess? Oh, right. Because it's humiliating. That's why.

A strong hand finds its way to Robbie's forehead and the villain shamelessly lets himself lean into the coolness.

"Robbie, you're burning up."

Robbie doesn’t like the uneasiness in his voice. He's never seen Sportacus so worried before and he feels like he should be flattered. But . . . he can't be. Sportacus has better things to do than watch him suffer, Robbie is sure of it.

Before Sportacus has a chance to pull his hand away from Robbie's forehead, the villain reaches up and takes his hand, holding it. He doesn’t want the touch to stop.

"This is all my fault," Sportacus says to himself. He doesn’t seem to mind that Robbie has now claimed his hand as his own.

Robbie snorts. Of course Sportacus would blame himself, the idiot. Robbie was the one who kidnapped Sportacus and brought all of the hero's germs into his home.

"Well, if you don’t mind, I'd like to finally get some sleep." Robbie relaxes into his chair and pretends to be getting ready for bed. Maybe then Sportacus will leave and Robbie won't have to feel like a disgusting mess in front of him.

"Yes, of course- wait, Robbie, when did you sleep last?"

"After you left."

"That was almost two days ago!"

"Yes."

"Robbie, sleep deprivation weakens your immune system and makes you more susceptible to illness. You shouldn’t have stayed up all night after . . ." Sportacus trails off and runs a hand down his face. "I'm sorry. This isn't your fault. I'm the one who got you sick."

Sportacus isn't usually the lecturing type. Robbie is rather entertained by this, or he would be if he didn’t hate watching the hero beat himself up for no reason. He is well aware of what lack of sleep can do to his body but that doesn’t change the fact that he can never fall asleep.

"I'll know better than to kidnap you next time," The villain grumbles.

Sportacus chuckles. "I appreciate that." Robbie watches as the hero looks around, probably figuring out the perfect way to fix such a situation. "Why don’t you go to your bed?"

"My bed?" Robbie repeats. "That's too far away. I'm fine right here."

"You need rest, Robbie."

"Whatever."

Sportacus pulls his hand from Robbie's grasp and the villain has a little pity party until he's suddenly scooped up in strong arms. He tells himself that he's just too tired to put up a fight, but it's actually pretty nice being carried around.

Sportacus lowers him onto the blessed bed and Robbie wants to fall asleep right there. Wants. He can't see it actually happening.

Robbie curls up and stays like that while Sportacus covers him with blankets, humming a that dumb 'twenty times' song. He sits on the edge and looks Robbie over.

"If you do have what I had, then you're in for quite a couple of days," He informs.

"Trust me, I know." Robbie is never going to forget how miserable Sportacus was. He isn't looking forward to experiencing the same.

"But the good news," Sportacus says softly, running a hand up and down Robbie's arm. "Is that I'll be here to make sure you're alright."

But Robbie knows better than to believe that. Sportacus is the town hero. Someone's going to get stuck in a tree or end up rolling too fast down a hill, and Sportacus will have to save them. That's just how things are. Robbie's selfish and wants the man all to himself.

"Whatever you say, Sportakook."

Sportacus raises an eyebrow, but decides not to address the obvious disbelief.

He takes Robbie's hand back in his and smiles, brushing a thumb over Robbie's knuckles in a gentle motion as the villain feels himself starting to drift off. He's excited to finally fall asleep and beat whatever is attacking his already-useless body. But Robbie suddenly sits up and coughs.

He keeps coughing.

He can't breathe.

Oh God. This is the end for him, Robbie just knows it. Taken down by elf germs.

He starts to panic, just a little. He can hear Sportacus' stupid crystal beeping and Sportacus himself is rubbing his back while the coughing fit plagues him.

He's finally able to catch his breath and he can feel moisture in his eyes again. This time it's Sportacus who wipes the tears away.

"Are you alright now?" He asks, his hand still steadily circling on Robbie's back.

"Your crystal," An out-of-breath Robbie mutters.

"What?"

"Your crystal. Someone's in trouble." He knew this wouldn’t last long. Sportacus is a busy guy. He probably has to go and stop the kids from setting something on fire or something. "You should go."

The hero looks down at his chest and back to his friend. "That was for you, Robbie," He explains. "It must be worried about you!"

"Wha-?" The blue guy is off filling a glass with water before Robbie asks any questions.

He drinks the entire glass and decides that he'll be disgusted with himself about it later. Right now his body has turned against him and he's willing to do just about any healthy thing to feel better. Gross.

Sportacus is there for him the entire night while he does a whole lot of coughing and not-sleeping.

He's starting to accept that he'll never sleep again, when Sportacus gets under the covers next to him. It's daylight out, or at least that's what Robbie assumed. Not a lot of natural light underground, but he could hear birds chirping through the pipes.

"What are you doing?"

"Is this alright? You seem to relax when I touch you," Robbie blushes. "So maybe it would help you sleep if I . . ." Sportacus wraps his arms around Robbie and the villain can't help but get closer until their warm bodies are pressed together. Sportacus is right, it is relaxing. "You'll keep getting sicker if you can't sleep."

All of this reminds him of just a few days ago when Sportacus was miserable beyond belief and Robbie had taken care of him.

"Why are you doing this, Sportanerd?" Robbie asks, letting himself nuzzle against Sportacus' chest.

"You took care of me, didn’t you? What kind of person would I be if I didn’t return the favor."

"So this is just some kind of obligatory action?"

"No," Sportacus answers, his voice filled with all the patience in the world. "This is a friend helping a friend."

Friend, huh? It's an okay start.


End file.
